A magnetic recording medium used as a video tape for VHS and .beta. types generally has coercive force Hc of from 600 to 700 Oe and has saturated magnetic flux density Bm of about 1,500 G. The demand for increasingly higher density recording that has recently arisen for magnetic recording media has led to the situation that the above-described coercive force Hc and the saturated magnetic flux density Bm are not electromagnetically sufficient to satisfy the noted demand. A magnetic tape (referred to as a metal tape) using metal particles as magnetic particles, which has recently been put into practical use as an 8 mm video tape, has high coercive force (Hc), such as from 1,400 to 1,500 Oe, and high saturated magnetic flux density Bm, such as 3,000 G or more. Accordingly, it has drawn much attention as a magnetic recording medium suitable for high density recording.
However, with such a high coercive force (Hc), there is a problem that a ferrite head typically used for decks of VHS or .beta. type cannot sufficiently record and accordingly cannot be used, because the recording densities of the head itself are saturated.